Issue 244 - Broughton Spurtle

Spurtle
September
2015
BROUGHTON’S INDEPENDENT STIRRER
[email protected]
Find us at: www.broughtonspurtle.org.uk
STOP PRESS: CANONMILLS
Free
No 244
Tel: 556 4848
RODNEY STREET REVIVAL
Just as Spurtle went to
press, City of Edinburgh
Council (CEC) refused
Glovart
Holdings’
application to demolish
1–6 Canonmills Bridge.
This
was
an
astonishingly good result
for local campaigners.
Spurtle
is
torn
between admiration for
a community energised
behind a common cause, and bewilderment at the Council’s logic.
CEC has now approved planning permission for a development on
the site, but refused permission to demolish the old building.
The explanation apparently concerns previously unaddressed
concerns about the Inverleith Conservation Area.
For more coverage, see our website (26.8.15).
Meet Jon-Paul and Amy Ranaldi, newly arrived
bakers on up-and-coming Rodney Street. They
specialise in gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan delights
GOLDEN TURD
which are every bit as good as the mainstream
OR POETRY IN MOTION?
alternatives. All their products are made fresh on
CEC has granted planning
the premises, and some customers are coming
permission for the ‘Golden
from as far afield as Aberdeen to snap them up.
Watch out too for Findlater’s bread and Steampunk
Turd’ ribbon hotel in the
coffee. Now turn to page 2.
new St James Quarter (SJQ),
against the advice of its own
GEORGE ST CONSULTANTS
officials (Issue 240).
Rosemary Goring in the
– OPEN TO GOOD IDEAS
Herald said the structure
Newly appointed George Street design consultants
would resemble ‘a bodyJulian Farrar and Janet Pope say they have no
builder,
chest
inflated
preconceptions about what should happen there.
and arms akimbo as it
CEC has hired Ironside Farrar Ltd to establish
intimidates everything in
design principles and options for George Street,
its environs’. The decision,
and to shape its future ‘place making’ once the
she continued, was the
experimental arrangements end.
Talking to NTBCC on 3 August, Farrar said he will
equivalent of ‘a cultural war
consider all suggestions that would allow the street
crime’ (17.8.15).
Architectural commentator David Black argued that CEC’s financial to be ‘legibly Edinburgh’ and more attractive. His
stake in the SJQ means its consent emerged from a conflict of interest. priority is to establish clear consensus on ‘how we
He says the matter should be referred to the European Court of Justice. want it to be, what primary purpose it should serve’.
‘Good luck with that,’ muttered everyone in the
New Town & Broughton Community Council (NTBCC) deliberations
on the proposal reached no clear consensus. On the one hand it supported room.
Farrar said he recognised a need to balance
the project’s ambition, on the other it baulked at the bulk. See: [http://
contending
opinions on their merits, not just on
goo.gl/roGD3U].
Meanwhile, the controversy has added further grist to the mill for how loudly they were expressed. Articulate pressure
an online petition expressing ‘No confidence in the City of Edinburgh groups should not drown out quieter, less organised
voices, including residents’.
Planning Department’ [https://goo.gl/RTWzpu].
A ‘charette’ was held on 13 August, with another due
later
this summer to ‘illustrate emerging principles’.
CEC WASTE SERVICES ON LEITH WALK
A presentation to the steering group will follow in
Harald Tobermann of Leith Central Community Council (LCCC) has October, and a final paper will be made public in
written to Transport & Environment Convener Leslie Hinds. He calls for November when the George Street experimental
better refuse collection on Leith Walk and its side streets. He wants resources traffic regulation order is formally wound up.
deployed to reflect population density and intensive use, not just surface
Work to restore the former layout (+ advisory cycle
area. He also backs locals in demanding improved street cleansing for the lane, see Issue 241) will be phased by block: Assembly
area. Hinds had earlier conceded that, initially, Waste Services had too few Rooms (7.9.15); Dome (14.9.15); Frederick–Castle
side-loading vehicles suitable for Leith Walk’s large communal bins. That St (21.9.15); Castle St–Charlotte Sq. (28.9.15).
For more on Farrar Ironside and its brief see:
problem has now been resolved. See CEC’s ‘Cleanliness of the City’ report
[http://goo.gl/KJiHxP]; [http://goo.gl/g5duVN].
at: [http://goo.gl/xBZMsE].
Briefly
Batleys, the McDonald Place cash and
carry, seek a review of the Council’s decision
not to allow Sunday trading during the
Festival (see our website 4.8.15). They claim
CEC’s position is self-contradictory because
officials agreed with a Noise Assessment
that found no undue disturbance. However,
they also argue that locals don’t need oncea-week respite from this supposedly nonexistent problem because they can have
it every other Sunday in the year. It’s all
very confusing … unless you live nearby,
where the argument for limiting Batleys’
car park racket and on-street throb is
self-evident.
NTBCC plans to hold a public meeting
to discuss what many regard as the city’s
dysfunctional waste collection system. They
plan to quiz officials in a systematic way,
and will resist the urge to just moan.
Online advertisement of the garage on
E. Scotland St Lane has resumed, with
slightly different wording (see Issue 233).
It is still erroneously described as an
office. NTBCC’s planning convener
Richard Price described himself as furious
at this latest twist, and will push officials
to bring some closure to the long-running
disputes about the garage’s construction
and legitimate use. Meanwhile, frustrated
residents have taken their complaints about
Planning officials’ conduct in this case to
the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
The last occasion on which we are aware
of a complaint like this being made was
in 2011. SPSO found that CEC officials
had failed to follow due process prior to
granting planning permission for a 2-storey
extension.
Broughton History Society’s new
programme begins on 7 Sept at 7.00pm
for 7.30pm in Drummond CHS. Alistair
McEwen will skirl on ‘Scottish Pipers in
World War I’.
A chorus of disappointment greeted our
news last month that Costa Coffee will take
over management of the café pavilion in
St Andrew Sq (see our website 14.8.15).
Over 62k followed the story on Facebook
alone. Many would prefer a distinctive
local presence to the multinational brand.
Many blame Essential Edinburgh for what
they see as yet another crass and insensitive
intrusion.
Iain McGill has been selected as
Conservative candidate for the Edinburgh
Northern & Leith constituency in next
year’s Holyrood election.
Coffee with added oomph
Next meet Iryna and Amy,
two of the team at Coffee
Magic, which opened on
Rodney Street in August.
The new café, established
by Iryna’s mother Elena
and partner Raymond, is
based partly on a belief in
the aphrodisiac qualities
of
caffeine.
Specialist
fortified offerings include
the Don Juan (for men) and
Oflameron (for women).
However you take your
coffee, expect spooning.
Devolution or buck-passing?
Following national legislative requirements, CEC’s health and social care
functions are merging, at least from recipients’ point of view.
One result of this ‘transformation’ is that some public-health initiatives will
be devolved to the local level.
However, a clear mismatch in expectations came last month when a CEC
official asked Leith Central Community Council (LCCC) how it gathered data
on the subject.
LCCC said that – owing to limited time, expertise and resources – it gathered
no such data.
Community councils in the past have been resistant to official hints and
enquiries suggesting they should take on more functions currently performed
by cash-strapped local authorities.
They say expecting untrained volunteers to take on part of the role of
professionals is unrealistic and would likely result in worse services. Critics of
that view say community councils could prioritise certain areas such as Health
if they made more effort to seek out volunteers with relevant experience, and
if they focused their budgets accordingly.
Coincidentally, four north Edinburgh community councils are currently
completing a skills-mapping audit funded by the Scottish Government and
the Development Trusts Association Scotland.
City of shadows
This stunning image – ‘The
Photographer’ – features in
a joint exhibition of blackand-white photography by
local couple Paul and Lynn
Henni. Many of the locations
will be familiar to Broughton
residents. The show continues
at the Roamin’ Nose Café and
Bistro on Eyre Place until the
end of September.
Creative map raises
eyebrows
Leith is one of the top five culturally active
places in Scotland, according to a new survey
compiled by Leith Creative and funded by
Creative Scotland and CEC.
It identifies nine hubs, eleven assets, and
four festivals. The hubs provide 564 studio/
desk spaces, from which 1,148 people work.
They attract over 7.5k visitors per month.
It points also to a large number of
‘creatives’ living and working here, and the
dearth of affordable studio space.
Which all sounds very useful. But Leith,
according to this survey definition, includes
EH6 and EH7 postal districts, and so embraces
St Margaret’s House in Meadowbank,
Gayfield Creative Spaces in Gayfield Square,
McDonald Road Library, the Embassy
Gallery in Broughton Street Lane, and the
Collective Gallery atop Calton Hill.
Even by Spurtle’s elastic boundarydrawing standards, this seems to be stretching
a point. See [http://goo.gl/vKf691] and
[www.leithcreative.org].
ProjectScotland is a Hopetoun Crescent-based charity doing amazing work with
young people, writes Lizzie Rynne.
They help them to get on in life through quality volunteering opportunities that
grow their skills, experience, and job prospects.
They strengthen the third sector as charities and not-for-profit organisations all
over Scotland benefit from the talent and enthusiasm of young people.
And they create connections across the generations by assigning each young
person a trained mentor with years of life experience to pass on. Last year alone,
ProjectScotland supported 600 young people aged 16–30 towards brighter
futures.
I started working with the charity a few weeks ago, but before that I’d never heard
of them. Yet, here they are on our doorstep, celebrating their tenth anniversary,
winners of prestigious awards, and a hive of energy directed at helping young
people get onto the ladder of life.
So far they’ve helped 5,000 young people, who have given over 3 million
hours of volunteering. And the model really does work, with 78 per cent of those
young people going on to employment, education, or training after completing the
programme. The job they do is fantastic.
If you’re a young person in need of a helping hand, if you work for a charity
that needs talented volunteers, or would like to support ProjectScotland, please
get in touch: [www.projectscotland.co.uk].
Look out for: Swifts
These consummate fliers will soon leave
their nests under our eaves for sunnier climes
in Africa. This year’s chicks will remain
constantly in flight for up to two years before
maturing and landing to nest. Even mature
birds will fly non-stop for the intervening
months, eating, sleeping, mating and gathering
nest material on the wing. Swifts reach over
100mph in pursuit of ‘aerial plankton’ (tiny
insects lifted by wind and thermal currents).
Another survival talent (which they share
with cousins the Hummingbirds) is the ability
Photo: Creative Commons
[https://goo.gl/MAAlfP].
to move into a semi-torpor when food is scarce.
How to see them: At first glance they resemble Swallows with long curved wings,
but are larger, darker and hunt high above the ground. They have a distinctive, thin,
two-toned screaming call delivered as they speed in groups between buildings.
Also look out for: Birds are starting to feed-up either to fly to warmer climes or to
put on weight to survive winter. Most smaller ones flock as families or bigger groups
at this time of year, so you may find your garden inundated with mixtures of finches
and tits. — Miles Forde
Union bids farewell to Broughton
The Union Gallery enjoyed a spectacular August with its critically acclaimed exhibition
of works by Edinburgh artist Audrey Grant (see our website, 9.8.15). Nineteen out of
23 works sold, many within a few hours of opening.
This, though, was the Union’s last hurrah here. The business has outgrown its
premises, and on 7 September will close its doors for the last time.
It’s a bitter-sweet day for Broughton after six years of high-quality contemporary
Scottish art on our doorstep. Artist/owner Alison Auldjo has nothing but praise and
affection for the local residents, traders and customers who in various ways helped
to make the venture flourish. We wish her continued success as she takes stock and
prepares to relocate over the next few months
For auld Laing syne
We were surprised and delighted last month by
reaction to an article about the Standard Life frieze at
1 George Street (see our website 8.9.15).
Reader Euan Leitch pointed out that the first of the
Foolish Virgins, installed
on the 1975 infill, was
modelled on US singersongwriter Patti Smith as
photographed for the 1976 album Radio Ethiopia.
Leitch, on a visit to Gerald Laing’s studio at Kinkell,
was told by the sculptor himself that – at the time of the
commission – Smith had recently done something to
annoy him. This was his pointed response.
Briefly
Photo:© Edinburgh Spotlight.
Local charity with national impact
Last month, Spurtle had another exclusive
splash about Antony Gormley’s Six Times.
Thanks to some specification changes,
engineering tweaks, and the generosity
of an anonymous National Galleries of
Scotland patron, the 4 missing figures will
return to the Water of Leith in spring 2016
at no additional cost to the taxpayer. See
our website (12.8.15). Meanwhile, dozens
of artfully balanced, more or less human
rock figures have appeared in the river to
fill a gap (see online Letters 28.7.15).
Photographs and 50-word explanations of
favourite spots in Edinburgh are sought
for a community exhibition in Rodney St
Tunnel in Sept/Oct. Send by 17 Sept. See
our website (18.8.15).
A 12-month trial of the Edinburgh
Community Triage Service has begun
at weekends. Police officers will now
first consult specialist NHS nurses by
phone when attending cases of people in
psychiatric or drug-induced crisis. It’s
hoped that appropriate agencies will be
contacted sooner, and that fewer people
will suffer the trauma of police detention
or escort to hospital. A similar pilot in
Glasgow was successful.
LCCC has again voiced unease at the
new student flats going up at Shrubhill.
They’re not sure they match the approved
plans, and will check.
A Spurtle contributor pointed to the area’s
abundant gutter flora earlier this summer
(see our website 2.7.15). Some readers
think it a mess, others admire it. Ward 12’s
Councillor Nick Gardner says spring
spraying was washed away by rain, but a
new programme for the Leith Walk ward
began late last month.
As Lidl ‘smarter shopping cards’
were distributed across EH7 by post last
month, valid until close of business on
28 Oct, Spurtle learned that the new store
on Logie Green Rd will not open until
some unspecified date in Dec. Thanks for
nothing.
Broughton Scouts are now on
Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/
BroughtonScouts].
Farewell Aurora Books of Tanfield,
which has closed. A note on the door
warmly thanked ‘all our loyal customers
and suppliers for 12 happy and prosperous
years in business’.
Candidates standing in the Leith Walk (Ward
12) Council by-election on 10 Sept. are:
Marion Donaldson, Scottish Labour Party;
Mo Hussain, Scottish Liberal Democrats;
Tom Laird, Scottish Libertarian Party;
Alan Melville, UK Independence Party;
Gordon Murdie, Scottish Conservative &
Unionist; Susan Rae, Scottish Green Party;
Natalie Reid, Scottish Socialist Party; John
Lewis Ritchie, Scottish National Party;
John Ferguson Scott, Independent; Bruce
William Whitehead, Left Unity.
You could hardly sleep for fans’ peels of
laughter when St Stephen’s Church clock
began striking the hours on the night of 3/4
Aug. You could hardly sleep for detractors’
cheers of relief when the chimes stopped
on the night of 4/5 Aug. This vexed topic is
still not resolved.
Administration at Westminster can be
painfully slow. The SNP Group only
received working telephones in early Aug,
and still awaits a full update of online
details. In the meantime, you can contact
Deidre Brock MP via the constituency
office at 166 Great Junction St: Tel. 559
7009; email [deidre.brock.mp@parliament.
uk].
Permission has been granted for offsales
by BottleDog at 25A Dundas St, subject
to adequate sound-proofing. Adjacent
residents are not pleased (Issue 241).
LGBT Health & Wellbeing is in the
running for three awards. The Howe-Street
based organisation has been shortlisted
by The Equality Network, Scotland’s
national LGBTI equality and human rights
charity, for 3 categories: Diversity; Equality
Initiative (particularly for its work in age
capacity building); Community Group
of the Year. Win or lose, we wish them
every continued success. The ceremony
will be held in The Grand Central Hotel,
Glasgow, on 10 Sept.
In other Planning news, NTBCC has lodged
objections to proposals to: develop housing
on the Sandy Hill (see our website 3.7.15);
demolish 1–6 Canonmills Bridge (29.7.15);
build an electricity substation outside the
Broughton Rd elevation of 154 McDonald
Rd (14.7.15).
Crumbs! Check out the Biscuit Factory: a
new venue/arts and work space at 4 Anderson
Place: [https://goo.gl/svmBDR].
The arrival of 2 new picnic benches for
Pilrig Park has been delayed. The items
are temporarily detained in their place of
manufacture: HMP Saughton.
Spurtle Team: J. Dickie, M. Forde, R.
Fullerton, M. Hart, D. Hill, D. Jackson Young,
A. McIntosh, J. R. Maclean, C. Roussot, L.
Rynne, T. Smith, D. Sterratt, E. Taylor-Smith.
Post: Spurtle, c/o Narcissus Flowers, 87
Broughton St, Edinburgh EH1 3RJ.
Printed by Minuteman Press, 63 Elm Row.
Malcolm Chisholm MSP
Edinburgh North and Leith
Constituency Office:
5 Croall Place, Leith Walk, EH7 4LT
Tel: 0131 558 8358
Fax: 0131 557 6781
Saturday surgeries:
Leith Library, Ferry Road: 10am.
Royston Wardieburn Community
Centre, Pilton Drive North: 12 noon.
Email: Malcolm.Chisholm.msp@
scottish.parliament.uk
Broughton
Property Management
Moreover ...
Thinking of
Letting your
Property?
See your local agent
We always need
property to let
[email protected]
0131- 478 7222
61-63 Broughton Street
Edinburgh EH1 3RJ.
New Town/Broughton
Community Council
The Community Council
represents the views
of local residents to
Edinburgh City Council
Next Meetings:
7 September
& 12 October
at 7.30pm
Broughton St Mary’s Parish
Church, Bellevue Crescent
www.ntbcc.org.uk/contact/
AM DECORATING
AM
Your local painter & decorator Alastair McAlpine
Tel: 0131 553 6589 Mobile: 07866 222 656 [email protected]